


Chamomile: Interlude

by IntoTheFold



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father/Daughter Incest, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Incest, Parent/Child Incest, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 20:45:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17230928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntoTheFold/pseuds/IntoTheFold
Summary: Colleen and Samuel have, to some degree, settled into their new life in Happy Meadows, but not everything in the Bell household is as happy as it seems.  What is a daughter to do when her father insists on continuing to drug her tea so she cannot refuse his intimate intentions?How will he react when she finally fights back?Taking place roughly one year after the ending of A Hint of Chamomile, Chamomile: Interlude serves as a bridge between the novel and its eventual sequel.https://sweetestyet.tumblr.com/





	Chamomile: Interlude

“I’m not thirsty.”

The statement was directed at a very perturbed looking Samuel who was staring at his daughter as though she had sprouted a second head and was using it to say the most bizarre things.  In his hands was her favorite mug, the one with the colorful butterflies, and inside of it was a fresh cup of chamomile tea.

Only it wasn’t just chamomile, and Colleen knew better than to presume anything else. Over a year had passed since they had settled into what she now accepted as a permanent residence in Happy Meadows and he still found it necessary to lace her tea with whatever illicit substance The First kept giving him.  She had hoped that in his role as The Second his confidence would increase and that this would extend to his confidence in their relationship and trust in her. Despite her best efforts, however, any desire for intimacy on his part meant she had to be drugged.

He didn’t seem to understand that rejection was a natural part of a relationship.  Nothing was perfect one hundred percent of the time; both parties weren’t always going to be interested at the same time.  Life happened, and whether it was due to a headache, a busy schedule, or even just not feeling it, rejection was okay. Part of being a couple meant working through those times.

In his eyes, however, being rejected was a personal affront, something from which there was no return.  Colleen began to feel less like part of a couple and more like a captive in her own home; after all this time he still could not take no for an answer.  He had no idea how badly it was damaging their relationship.

“What?”

Samuel’s response, though short, exposed a bitterness in his tone as he clenched his teeth.  She could see his hands tighten around the mug, subtly pushing it towards her as though that would convince her to take it.  She would not be fooled.

“I said, I’m not thirsty,” she repeated more firmly.

She watched him bristle at her remark, eyes widening for a moment in surprise before narrowing to dangerous slits.  Lips pursed, he seemed to contemplate for a moment how to best approach the situation. His next words did not make things any better.

“Drink the tea, Colleen.”

It was not a request; it was a command.  Unlike previous encounters, it was said with a sternness that almost took her aback, and part of her considered giving in at that moment.  Nothing good could come from disobeying his wishes.

Yet she felt she had to.  He had exerted this control over her for far too long, and something had to be done to stop it.  She had to do something.

“No,” she replied tersely, standing her ground as he took an annoyed step closer.

“Drink the damn tea!” Samuel spat, shoving it nearer to her and almost spilling some on her shirt.

For the first time in a long time, something inside of Colleen snapped.  She had put up with so much over the past several years, even more so in the past year and a half, and she finally had enough.  Trying to explain to her father that his behavior was hurting her and them had gotten her nowhere; his misguided optimism grated on her.  He might mean well, and she loved him dearly, but the truth was she didn’t think she could take any more of this.

Without giving it much thought, she swung out her arm and slapped the mug out of his hands.  They both watched with wide eyes as it flew towards the cabinets, landing on the floor with an audible crash as the ceramic shattered into an unrecoverable number of pieces.  A few of the larger shards rocked back and forth on the tile for a few moments, the terrible noise filling the room as the tea flowed over the broken butterflies and into the cracks.  Then there was silence.

Heart hammering in her chest, it took several moments for the weight of what she had done to fully hit her.  She stared at the shattered mug on the floor, then at where it had been in her father’s hands, still outstretched as if holding something no longer there, then up at his face that had contorted into an ugly grimace.  Slowly his eyes moved from the mess on the kitchen tile back to her, the light that was once in them completely gone. His hands gradually dropped to his sides where they instead balled into fists signifying the extent of his rage.  Dreading what was to come, Colleen wished more than anything she could take it back.

“Dad, I-” she started to say, searching desperately for the words but unable to find them quickly enough.  The growl he made low in his throat startled her, and her eyes looked back to his from where they had drifted away in fear.  If something in her had cracked moments ago, then an equal or greater reaction had taken place inside him.

“What the  _ fuck _ is your problem, Colleen?” Samuel asked incredulously.  “Is this how you behave now? Christ, you’re twenty-two years old and you’re throwing tantrums like a child!”

She hung her head.  He was not wrong, she shouldn’t have done what she did, but she still firmly believed it was his fault it had come to this in the first place.  If only she could get him to understand.

“Y-yeah, well maybe if you stopped trying to force drugs on me-”

“I’m not forcing you to do anything!” he snapped, the power of the denial only fueling his ire.  “I’m only trying to help you relax, that’s all it’s ever been-”

“So you can fuck me and not feel guilty about it!” she retorted, voice shaking.  He paused and looked down at her.

“You like it,” he hissed.

“That’s what I’m trying to say!  I-I do like it, I love you Dad, you don’t need the drugs-”

“Don’t be silly.  I know you hate it here,” Samuel scoffed, then ran his hand through his hair with a grim chuckle.  “You’ve never liked it here. You never could see how good this has been for us, you’ve always been too spoiled, everyone always taking care of you.  And you’ve been so- so ungrateful, not once have you thanked me for all I’ve sacrificed for you. Always were too busy smoking pot or- or screwing my boss, or screwing practically everyone else you met.”  He took a deep breath, his face steadily turning red as he seethed.

“I’m surprised you never ended up pregnant.  And what a joy that would have been, single unwed mother with no college education, no job, no way to support herself.  You know, I was supportive of you not going to college. I let you do it. Why? I thought it was good for you. I thought you’d figure yourself out and turn yourself around and maybe make something for yourself.  But instead what do you have to show? What have you done with your life, Colleen? You’ve had over twenty years to figure it out and you’ve squandered it away.

“You can’t use your mother’s death as a crutch forever.  I know it was hard on you, it was hard on me too, but you know what?  Life keeps going. You’ve got to pick yourself up and just move on. But you never did.  You’ve been dependent on me for years, Colleen, and quite frankly it’s pathetic.”

The tears that had formed in Colleen’s eyes had already started to overflow onto her cheeks.  This wasn’t fair. All she wanted was for him to be with her like as normal of a couple as they could be, and he had completely turned the tables on her.  What he said hurt; it cut deep, deeper than she thought it would when he first began his rant. The worst of it wasn’t how nasty he was or how he was completely ignoring the issue at hand, but how right he was.  These were all thoughts that she had in the past, but she simply buried them and continued on with her coasting existence. She had no idea he thought them too, not to this extent, and to know just how disappointed he truly was in her hurt her in her very core.

She hung her head as he glowered at her, the tears now falling from her cheeks straight to the floor.  She did not even bother wiping at them, letting them flow freely as she put a hand to her head. How was she supposed to recover from this?  How were  _ they _ supposed to recover from this?  One minute they had been laughing and talking about which movie to watch that evening after dinner, the next her father had unloaded years of repressed feelings of disdain onto her.

Samuel sighed, putting his face in his hands for a moment before looking back over at the shattered mug.  “I’ll clean it up,” he mumbled, then cleared his throat. “Get out of my sight.”

It was the second time he had ever said something like that to her, and she was not anxious to find out what would happen if she did not comply.  She turned on her heel and quickly left the room, the silence pierced by her hiccups as she ran upstairs and into the relative safety of her bedroom.  She had hardly used the room in months, instead sleeping in Samuel’s bed and sharing his closet. It felt alien then, to be surrounded by all of her things, yet she knew it was the most comforting place she could be in the whole town.  The entire town was still alien to her, even after over a year, and now her father was too.

That night, Colleen slept in her own bed for the first time in a long time, all the while wondering where she had gone so wrong.  She would never know her father was in the next room, an old family photo album in hand and a glass of scotch to his lips, wondering the same thing.


End file.
